As for wilderness know how, I did several years in boy scouts and i spend at least 3 days in the winter, camping out. Coldest temp camping was -10, but it rarely gets much colder in the midwest. I guess all in all, i could make due, but no where an expert.

I think the biggest problem that guy had was going somewhere remote + not telling anyone where he went. I have hiked thousands of miles in the backcountry all across the United States and never had a problem. I do always carry some essentials such as a knife and stuff to make a fire. If I am really going hiking though I bring much more and could probably hack it for a long time.

I still don't have an adequate water-storage solution (for home or in the vehicles). We live in Los Angeles, earthquake country, so we're all supposed to have some food and water on-hand. But, you're supposed to change out bottled water every six months (or sooner), so that's a bit of a burden to remember. I think we have four gallons of water in the garage. I'm also planning to buy some "emergency food." It's fairly inexpensive and has a shelf life of five years.

Also, I do want to get more space blankets, more magnesium fire-starters (they're only $6.00), and more safety and signaling devices. I've also been meaning to get a multi-tool into the glove compartments of each car (only the van has one right now). I have a $400 Rigid steel toolbox that I'll eventually re-purpose for an emergency food and water container. I'll place that in the backyard so that we can still get to it in case the house collapses.

I do have one funny story of being stuck out in the wilderness, albeit, while we were still with our car. We were in the California mountains near some radio transmission towers. It was night and it was snowing. When we returned from our short hike, I pushed my remote to unlock the car doors . . . nothing. The high amount of RFI in the area prohibited my key fob from working--the car wouldn't start without the key fob "activating" it. We had to push the car down the mountain hill, at night, in the snow, with my GF waving a fluorescent lantern to guide me. After several hundred feet, finally, we could start the car.

While California's urban centers are fairly temperate, we do go off into nearby national and state parks fairly often where temperatures can range from sizzling-hot to freezing. We never vary from marked trails and none of us ever hikes alone. When we venture into any park, we always buy a map. I had our favorite destination's map laminated at Kinko's. Our favorite skiing destination is chock-full of Ski Patrol staff, so it's pretty safe there (plus, we're not good enough to ski off-piste anyway). Nevertheless, I've been collecting the following items for emergency preparedness:

monty11 said:
From Les Stroud's book: some bloke got his arm pinned down by a large boulder. After several days he made up his mind, used a huge stone to break his arm bone and then his pocket knife to cut it off. He lived to tell the tale, minus one arm.

As for wilderness know how, I did several years in boy scouts and i spend at least 3 days in the winter, camping out. Coldest temp camping was -10, but it rarely gets much colder in the midwest. I guess all in all, i could make due, but no where an expert.

Nice thread Monty have you ever seen the movie "Gerry"? Its a basic movie about what "not to do" when roughing it in the middle of nowhere. I recommend it if you haven't seen it. Its shockingly simple, but could easily happen to anyone who is not thinking ahead at all.

Thanks for the tips Mike and Drab, that time I went into Quebec was a school trip, I didn't really go into the wilderness really, but it did get mighty cold when I was there. I remember seeing -20C at night when we were out around the time of Carnival.

I try to go out a couple of times in the winter for some astro photography or trying to get photos for "next years" holiday cards. For me tromping in the Midwest fields the wind blows non-stop, 70 yr old barbed wire fences are hidden in grass and snow, closest house (if you know where one is) can be 5-15 miles away - so it is not bad but still concerning when alone which I am all the time. Oh and the River beds are great for wildlife and for taking a polar swim - which sucks even with only a foot of water. Broken ankle, leg and puncture wounds are my main concerns. I'm not real concerned with getting my arm lodged between corn stalks :)

Everyone is covering the big things but theses are the small things I take that no one else has mentioned:
Orange hat or vest - hunters like things that move.
I have a little key-chain gps car tracker backer that works great and can clip on my bag or coat.
Second stocking hood
Large zip-lock bags
Poncho
Rarely I'll take a little .22 pistol but for sure some fire crackers & colored long run smoke bombs. We have coyotes in the area and the sound scares them off if they get too interested in me. The smoke bombs double as fog as well!
Hand winding LED flash light with Red flasher.
Small Air horn
15Ft nylon rope.
about 10 hand/foot warming packs.
Extra change of clothes and shoes left in car.

I always leave a note in my windshield with where I'm headed with a simple hand drawn or google map with path and my phone number, date,time I left, main color I'm wearing, for any hunters/farmers/Sheriff that pass my vehicle and are concerned.

I sometimes take a can of orange turf spray paint (football field paint) and spray every 100 yards or so or when I go into a wooded area so someone can follow my path.

NSXType-R said:
Just curious guys- how do you guys shoot in the cold? When I went to Quebec, I had a point and shoot with me and I had thin gloves. It was barely enough, but I got through it.

Are there gloves that cater specifically to photographers? I've worn thick gloves, they just don't work, especially with a low end body with small buttons. The dials I can deal with, the buttons, not so much.

One of the side effects of being an evolved species w/o conscious control over many of our lower-level systems is an inability to think "My core is plenty warm, pump more hot blood to my cold fingers" as it is natural for the body to shut off circulation to the extremities first in an attempt to keep the brain alive.

That said, "hunter's hands" can be trained. Keep the core temp up, keep a hat on, and after a few weeks your body will realize hypothermia isn't just around the corner and will pump more blood to your hands.

The higher your resting metabolism the better, and the more years of cold weather you have under your belt the faster the acclimation happens every year. Just be sure you actually DO keep your core temp up, that you DON'T allow the fingers to go numb, and that you moisturize to prevent serious chapping and cracking.

Neoprene shooter's gloves (with an exposed trigger finger and thumb) offer little in the way of direct insulation, but block the wind (and water!) while fitting skin-tight. While you are (slowly) training your body to pump blood where you want it they are a great help, and interfere minimally with button operation.

All the above is assuming one is in decent enough physical condition to actually produce the needed body heat, and eating well enough to maintain it.

If you don't naturally spend much time in the cold, hunter's hands aren't likely an option. Then it comes back to raising your metabolism, insulating the core, eating properly, and gloves. Consider the shooting gloves and an oversized pair of mittens to slip on OVER the gloves when not actually pointing the camera. Ski gloves are the worst of both worlds, IMHO, as they don't allow operation so it becomes an all-or-nothing ordeal.

Although I've been trained for a fairly high-level of survival by a former employer, I would very much hate to ever put that to any test.

Good sense tells you let people know went and where you are going and how long you are going to be gone to a wilderness area, and pack things that you might need if you happen to get stuck.

My wife and I did slide off the road a few Winters ago into a snow drift off Glacier National Park (out of season). We were there for about 4 hours before a few guys going snowmobiling pulled us out. We were prepared, but it still would have been a long night. ;-)

We regularly shoot in cold weather (temperatures this weekend with be around -10/-15). For my hands I use three layers: There are liners under thin gloves, under split mittens, that fold back to allow for the fingers to manipulate the functions of the camera.

After -20 or so, it gets really hard to be outside, -30 or even more so. I usually give up the ghost at -40.

BTW, kitty litter is considered better than sand for getting traction.

Just curious guys- how do you guys shoot in the cold? When I went to Quebec, I had a point and shoot with me and I had thin gloves. It was barely enough, but I got through it.

Are there gloves that cater specifically to photographers? I've worn thick gloves, they just don't work, especially with a low end body with small buttons. The dials I can deal with, the buttons, not so much.

Actually you don't need to break apart the lens to make a fire. A friend of mine (like a tease her: a Cannot user) put her camera on the ground with the lens facing up and the sun burnt a hole in the mirror wall or something inside the camera.

I wouldn't recommend following Les's advice for wilderness survival with a camera. He'd tell us to break apart our 14-24 lens to use the optics to try and start a fire.

Actually, any pro-body Nikon (F5, D2, D3, etc) can make a very good survival tool. It's rugged enough to split open coconuts, pound stakes, or crack a bear over the head. :)

Seriously though, I never go hiking in an area unless I have a halfway decent map with me, and a compass. Even here on the East Coast it doesn't take long to get away from Cell-phone coverage when you're on a trail, especially if you have AT&T.

I'd also recommend layering for warmth, deet for bugs, goretex and vibram (for brands). I always keep a duffel in my trunk with a wool blanket, emergency reflectors and a spare flashlight. If I go on a road trip, I usually throw my old down sleeping bag in the trunk. In the stuff sack it takes up almost no room and it's very warm if you need it.

Even here in California you can get in peril if you go too far from population centers in inclement weather, even in your car. A well liked editor for CNET (internet tech reviews) died of exposure in a storm in his vehicle Dec., 2006.

When I lived in Minnesota years ago, it was routine to carry a big bag of sand and a shovel in the trunk. Sometimes you had to dig your way out of a ditch.

Yeah, I wouldn't care for the slow death thing. I more meant that I'd die happy, in that if I died doing what I liked, I really wouldn't have much in the way of regrets.

I never really had any emergency on any of my outings, so I never HAD to use any emergency equipment. I've gotten lost, but always made it back to base before the next morning. (Hiking in the mountains at night can be a downer, even with a small flashlight.)

In addition to gloves and a hat you should also have an extra pair of dry socks, nothing worse than hiking 25km in a soaked boot. Tried it once on a rogain (variant of orienteering, where you don't pass all check points but select the route and the checkpoints that you can manage in a given time, actually no human can take all checkpoints) and after about 5km I stepped through some roots into freezing water. Believe me, my foot didn't look pretty after the remaining 30 km. But luckily I could go home after it and rest and heal my foot.

Actually I am left handed, but in a right hand dominated world I've gotten used to things meant for the right handed. The only exception are scissors that I still want to use with my left hand but as you know it won't work very well as you are pushing the blades apart when they are in the wrong hand instead of pushing them together.

Regarding mosquitoes, I've seen hats that have a zipped compartment on top from where you can take out a net to cover your face with.

I hate insects too Niko, although I don't have any allergic reactions to ants, but I hate when they bit You. Once I was in Italy, and as it was a budget travel we were sleeping in very different places, one of the oddest was laying in a sleeping bag at the back of gas station (and unfortunately ant's home). They fed on me the whole night. The second worst night was in India / Jaisamler I believe, we were after 14h train ride, and really didn't care where to sleep, but once we entered the room, the whole floor run away, so we took another room, where the floor was ok, but... it ended up that the first option was much better, as in the second room instead of crawling animals we got a lot of flying mosquitos that ended up as our night lunch :(

As for going off the beaten track. I almost always carry first aid kit, headlamp, gps, warm hat and glowes - it takes much less place than additional sweater but keeps You almost as warm.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend going out alone and unexperienced either. A nice thing to do (if you have the time) would be to at least camp in the area without your camera gear, get to know the area first (and scout while you're at it) and then return with your gear.

But yeah, I don't know anything about surviving in the wild, so I'd be dead. Which is exactly why I do street photography. :D

No lie... especially if its your right hand. My girlfriend messed up her right shoulder a while back. Had to cancel all her jobs for the next two weeks (luckily it was a slow period). Try shooting your camera with your left hand only.

A shame really, as I suspect there are quite a few left handed photographers... Hey! Maybe that's what the new D3 will be :)

From Les Stroud's book: some bloke got his arm pinned down by a large boulder. After several days he made up his mind, used a huge stone to break his arm bone and then his pocket knife to cut it off. He lived to tell the tale, minus one arm.

My biggest fear when I'm out in the "brush" is getting bit by a rattle snake or an insect. I got an allergic reaction to a measly ant bite once and my whole face rapidly swelled up as if I'd been in a boxing match. So for me that's more dangerous then getting lost or stepping on a landmine.
I'm constantly looking before I step. Warprints you'd die happy assuming you die quick, but if you break your legs or have a bolder pin you down, it could be a long long slow death.